Laserfiche WebLink
CITY OF SOUTH BEND REDEVELOPMENT COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING – April 23, 2026 <br /> <br />Page | 6 <br /> <br />share inventories of distressed properties. Prior to this change, land <br />banks had limited authority. <br /> <br />Following the legislative update, the City, MACOG, Council members, <br />and community partners studied the creation of a local land bank, <br />resulting in a roadmap report developed with the Center for Community <br />Progress. <br /> <br />A land bank is a nonprofit entity created to acquire, hold, manage, and <br />repurpose vacant and abandoned properties. Its role is to stabilize <br />neighborhoods by maintaining properties, clearing title and back taxes, <br />and ultimately returning properties to productive private ownership <br />through disposition or renovation. <br /> <br />A land bank is needed because the current process for acquiring vacant <br />and blighted properties is slow, complex, and often ineffective. The City <br />has relied on ad hoc arrangements with the County to acquire these <br />properties, but each transaction requires separate approvals and <br />lengthy negotiations, limiting timely action. <br /> <br />A land bank would streamline this process by allowing direct acquisition <br />of certain tax sale properties without repeated approvals from multiple <br />governing bodies. Unlike the City, the land bank is better equipped to <br />stabilize properties, make limited repairs, and evaluate buyers based on <br />long-term neighborhood benefit rather than solely the highest bid. It can <br />also assemble market development-ready lots and enter into <br />agreements requiring buyers to complete improvements within a set <br />timeframe. <br /> <br />Overall, the land bank provides a more efficient, strategic, and <br />neighborhood-focused approach to reducing vacancy and blight, <br />relieving the City of long-term maintenance costs, and returning <br />properties to productive use. <br /> <br />With support from $4 million in Lilly Endowment funds, an endowment <br />has been created to support long-term Land Bank operations, with <br />future investment earnings expected to offset annual operating costs. <br />The endowment will be managed by the Community Foundation of St. <br />Joseph County. <br /> <br />The specific action before the RDC is a $500,000 startup funding <br />request from the RDC General Fund, consistent with previously <br />approved city and county interlocal agreements. These funds would <br />support property acquisition, site maintenance, limited stabilization <br />work, and operational expenses. Funds will not be released until the